


It's Not Goodbye

by bar2d2s



Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Blackest Night, M/M, Star Sapphire Axel, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3929905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Axel Walker of Earth, you have a great void in your heart.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not Goodbye

_[Axel Walker of Earth, you have a great void in your heart.]_

The ring had somehow made it past the barricaded doors and windows of their hideout, flying past his drink and battle weary team, and slipped under the door to his newly-claimed bedroom. It wasn’t a black one, like Owen and his father had been wearing. Instead, this ring was bright purple, almost pink.

And it was talking to him.

“No fuckin’ duh.” Back-sassing a talking ring wasn’t the dumbest thing he’d ever done, but it was up there. “Tell me something I  _don’t_  know.”

_[You are still capable of giving great love. Though the loss of your one true love has wounded your heart, it has not broken it. You still have the strength of love to go on.]_

Axel threw a balled up sock at the ring, but missed. “If I’m so strong, then why’m I doing this?!” He gestured towards the empty bottle of sleeping pills on the bed next to him. “Why’re you here now, why didn’t you come when I could have saved him?”

_[The void summoned us.]_

He almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. “So, you can’t find happy people? Just the ones who want to die?”

_[Only if they are still capable of giving love. Your love for Owen Mercer did not die with him. Though you cannot foresee a life beyond this bleak moment, a life without him, we now present a choice: Fall into the darkness and rise again, perverting life and the illusion of love, or embrace the Star Sapphire, to help defeat the force that has taken him from you.]_

That gave him a moment’s pause. His body was starting to feel heavy, but, if he died now…a black ring would come for him. He might even end up killing the Rogues, who were in no position to put up any kind of fight. Axel bit his lip, his vision going blurry as he stared at the ring.

“Will I…do you think I’ll see him again? If I accept?”

_[Yes.]_

He sighed, then reached out and grabbed for the ring.

“Guess I’ve got no other choice, then.”

_[Welcome, Star Sapphire.]_

The transformation was immediate, and painful. Like a hellish Sailor Moon, Axel found himself vomiting up the pills he’d swallowed in a shower of magenta energy, before they shattered into dust and his uniform began to appear. It clothed him in sections, destroying his Trickster costume. Knee-high platform boots, a tight fitting leotard with a white belt, high collar, and a strange symbol on his chest, a mask not unlike his usual one, elbow-length gloves, and a tiara with that same symbol, all in near-blinding magenta. Axel looked at himself in the mirror, and chuckled.

“Good thing this ring comes with a ridiculous boost of self-esteem, else I don’t think I’d be off to fight  _anyone_. Didja  _have_  to give me a leotard?”

_[Customize your uniform later, Star Sapphire, love is in danger.]_

“Trading one pushy boss for another…alright, ring, let’s hit the road.”

***

Nekron was defeated. The heroes were licking their wounds. Twelve of the dead had returned to life, including Captain Boomerang.

Just…not the right one.

“It’s not right! It’s not _fair_! You lied to me, you stupid ring! You said I’d see him again! You said he’d-” He fell to his knees, choking back a sob. At least he was out of visual range of the cameras and the heroes and anyone who could have recognized him. This mourning was private. 

His fists pounded first the ground, then his own chest. The ring was supposed to fill the void, make the hurting stop, but it wasn’t doing a goddamn thing.

“I just, it hurts. It hurts too much. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t bring him back. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

The tears leaked out from under his mask, dropping onto his hands. A lone bit of saline hit his ring.

With an almighty spark, a construct leaped out. The image was familiar. A tall, handsome man with a cocksure smirk and a stupid scarf. 

Owen.

The construct knelt down, embracing Axel for a long moment, before offering him his hand.

“Stand up, twerp. You’ve got no reason to be on your knees.” Axel’s sobs dissolved into hiccups of laughter. Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, projected into existence by the strength of his love, but it was better than nothing. He took the hand that was offered, pulling himself up.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t-” Owen placed a glowing finger over his mouth, leaning down to brush energy-crackling lips across his forehead.

“Don’t. Don’t you  _dare_  blame yourself. I was duped into believing that I could play god and bring my dad back to life. If you’d said anything, Cold would’ve shoved you into the pit right along with me.” Owen sighed, his image flickering. “Your ring’s about to go dead.” The fight had taken a lot out of them both, and his ring was on its last dregs of power.

“I can recharge it.” Axel said earnestly. “I just need to find one of those batteries and-”

“Let it die.” His blood ran cold. “You’re not a Star Sapphire, you’re a Rogue. This isn’t real, Ax. This isn’t real and you know it. But so long as you remember me, and keep me in here,” Owen tapped him on the chest, just to the side of where one of the main Sapphire points ended. “I’ll never really be gone.”

His heart in his throat, Axel embraced the rapidly vanishing construct as hard as he dared. “I love you. I love you, Owen. And I just…I don’t want to say goodbye.” Owen laughed, backing away in order to pull Axel up for one last kiss.

“You beautiful moron. Don’t you know? This isn’t goodbye, it’s just see you later.”

With a smile, the Owen construct finally faded out of sight, along with his uniform. He was in Coast City with nothing but his boxers and a useless hunk of metal on his hand. Amazingly, Axel felt neither embarrassed nor hopeless. He was the Trickster. He’d find a way back home, and some cool threads while he was at it.

Okay, so maybe the ring had helped a little, after all.


End file.
